Marionette
by vibritiannia
Summary: She's not used to being used, but she doesn't mind it. Taken away at twelve, as the only remaining survivor of a tragic mishap in her village, she is trained and taught to uphold a certain task given by her new guardian. But what happens when she returns to him as a fully developed teenager. Is she still going to hold the position of his puppet?
1. Chapter 1

In the village hidden in the sand, around two years prior to when a demon was born; lit the sky with flames- a vacant village, casted off and deserted and from the ashes, two years later, a new village was made. One that was populated with many and filled with peace and the harmonic sounds of laughter. Though as populated as the village seemed, there were not many children. The village served as a retirement home for some and for others, a recovery base. Only two children resides-none of which, were related by blood.

"You're not playing fair Shirley!" Mariana yelled with clear signs of annoyance in her expression, laughing, I passed the ball to her, "Do I need to? It's boring when you abide by the rules". Mariana opened her mouth to protest but was interrupted by the sight of a boy- who looked to be around our age, with red hair, approached us shyly. "C-can I join your game too?" he asked. Mariana quickly pulled me back and whispered: "Its him!". "Who's him?" I asked loudly, completely unaware that the conversation was not meant for the boy to hear. "My name's Gaar-" "the demon!" Mariana whispered again. I took the ball from her grasp, shoving her off in the process "He doesn't look it" I said waving her off and walking towards the boy. "What if he's tricking you just to kill you?!" Mariana shouted after me. In an attempt to shut her up, I stopped, turned around giving a smile, I replied: "Simple: I'll just die and you'll just run" turning back to face the boy's direction, I asked: "Now…is it Gaar, Gaary or Gaara?". With both his eyes and mouth, he smiled "Gaara". I stretched out my left arm, "I'm Shirley Chiho, nice to meet you!". Suddenly, his body jolted back while his eyes widened completely fixated on my arm. I then realised that he didn't know what a handshake was. "It's a handshake, it's something people do whenever they meet someone new" I explained and lowered my hand, "But it's okay if you don't want to. It's more of a grown-ups thing". He seemed to have relaxed a bit so I kept on talking hoping that he'd be comfortable enough to converse without being so tense, "You wanted to play with us right? Well I hope you don't mind, it's just going to be me and you since Mariana is shy". He nodded and I tossed the ball to him. Surprisingly, he caught it with ease. "So how old are you Gaara?", he tossed it back and I caught it, but barely "Twelve. How old are you?" _'It's working!'_. Tossing the ball again, I replied "The same age as you". I readied myself for the impact of the ball, but Gaara didn't return it. He kept it in his grasp staring down at it with saddened eyes. I noticed this and was about to question when he asked: "Y-you're not afraid of me. Right?". Blinking in confusion, I casually replied: "Of course not. Why would I?". "Everyone else is afraid, they run from me and never let me join their games because of what I am" he said, still not meeting my gaze. "I'm not everyone" I said as I walked up to him, "I'm my own person" I grinned and patted his head, "I don't know what people say you are, or what you think you are. In my eyes, I see a shy red-head boy with the most amazing teal eyes". Finally, his gaze met mine, and I saw a slight smile form on his lip, but within an instant, the worried/sad expression returned. "H-how do I know you won't be afraid and run away once you do". "Easy, trust me. But if you need actual proof…here" I held out my pinky finger, earning a confused look from Gaara. "Hook your pinky finger onto mine", he was a bit hesitant at first but he did just that given a bit of time. "I, Shirley Chiho promise to never leave you no matter what!". "What was that?" he asked detaching his pinky. "A promise. Now you're my friend till the end! I won't leave, not even if you told me to". A blush appeared and I giggled. "Shirley! It's getting late. We should head back", "Oh, you're still here Mariana?" I shouted back, which earned an irritated look from her. "Until tomorrow, my new friend" I bowed playfully and walked towards Mariana. "W-wait! You forgot your ball!" Gaara shouted. Waving him off I replied "keep it, but bring it back tomorrow, cause we're continuing our game". "You are seriously dense! Playing with him like that- calling him your friend! Don't you know wha-", "He's my friend! I don't care what anyone else thinks. He's just a boy" I snapped at Mariana, who was now silently walking alongside me as we travelled back to our little village.


	2. Chapter 2

The smell of smoke came prominent. Awoken to the heat of raging flames and the many painful screams, I exited the house where just a second ago, I peacefully slept. Shuffling over burned bodies and those being burned. I finally made my way through, only to face the synchronizing of flames equally being shared among the houses situated in the village. My body trembled, my eyes became a stream. As much I wanted to, I couldn't scream. Fear paralysed me. Multiple questions flooded my mind- What? Why? How? "Oh?" a grim voice spoke, causing my body to jolt backwards. "We have a survivor" the voice spoke once more. "Not for long" another voice- deeper than the previous, intruded. As my body was turned towards the devastating scenery, I dared not turned to face the voices coming from behind. "No" said another and instantly I felt a breeze pass along my neck. This voice was different from the others, it held a much softer tone. I heard the sound of footsteps and I immediately shut my eyes. The footsteps suddenly came to a halt and I felt the cold touch of a hand that squeezed my cheeks together. "Yes. She will do" the soft voice spoke, and then the pressure on my cheeks was no more. Nether was my consciousness. I fell into darkness, unable to use any of my senses.

I was awoken once more, not by will and not to heat- but to the cold sting of water. My eyes tried to grasp the figure that hovered over me. "Good, I'm glad this wasn't a waste" he spoke. As my vision grew clearer, I could've made clear of the figure's gender. Also his features- he had short red hair and wore a black cloak that covered his entire body from the neck down. Gaara immediately came to mind with the mention of red hair, _'Looks like I won't be able to keep my promise after all'._ A tear escaped my eyes and was now trickling its way down my cheek. "Why are you crying?" said the cloaked red head. I shook my head vigorously and wiped my eyes with the back of my palm. "I just saved you, you shouldn't cry Marionette". "M-my name's S-Shirley C-Chiho". His hand became outstretched and reached for my head, earning a flinch from me. I relaxed a bit when the hand ruffled through my blonde hair, "Not anymore it isn't. But Marionette is a much better name, won't you say?". My head subconsciously nodded vigorously in approval which earned a smile from the red head. "How old are you?" he asked, "T-twelve". "Hmm. When do you turn thirteen?" another question he asked. "In three weeks". "What little time" he muttered to himself, "Now listen Marionette, three weeks from now, you will be released. You are not free. You are only going to be fulfilling your task. You will not try to escape or forfeit, if you do, you will be killed. Understood?". Once again, I nodded vigorously earning another smile. "Good. Once more thing, I'll have to change your hair colour to brown. I hope you don't mind". "I-I don't". Another earned smile. "I'm Sasori by the way and for the time being, you'll be staying here with me. I'll train you and teach you, we'll have so much fun you won't even miss that old village of yours. Though the house is a bit cramped and there's not much lighting, you'll be safe. That is, so long as you don't betray me". Though I was scared stiff, I managed to pull myself together. Holding out my pinky finger I spoke: "I won't. I promise" he followed my head, grasping onto my finger as he smiled once more.


	3. Chapter 3

"One more time and then you can break" my trainer- Sasori, instructed. It had already been two weeks passed since I was taken from my village. Ever since, it's been non-stop training with a few lessons in between. I'd gotten use to him- I'd gotten used to being here. He replaced the parents I never had, I guess that's why a part of me always wanted to be in his presence. Unlike the other voices I heard, his held no aggression. So as he wished, I gave the tree another punch which caused the bark to carve in, leaving splinters in my fists and drawing out trickles of blood from each. "Very well done. Come". "So, about this academy" I asked as he cleaned my wounds. Signalling with a 'hm' as a means to continue, I spoke: "What will I be doing?". "Well basically, you're going to learn and when the time comes, you'll be participating in the Chūnin exams" he spoke, his attention still fixated on my wounded fists. "I've organised everything so that your rank is known as a Genin, enabling you to partake in the classes and take the exam. Though your skill-set and what I've thought you is above Genin and Chūnin you are only allowed to use the basics". I took a minute to process it all- though I weren't quite sure what Genin and Chūnin were. "Don't worry. The academy will clarify it" Sasori reassured, noticing my confused expression. My hand was then released from his hold and now wrapped in white bandages. I looked at it with amused eyes, until a shiny object made contact with my hands turning my gaze into a confused one. "Call it an early birthday gift. It's what ninja of your village wear to symbolize their home. Others in your class may wear one different in symbol- in fact you may be the only student from the sand, considering that you are a transfer student. Also, I registered last name as Chiho" this brought a smile to my face "But your first name remains Marionette". I nodded giddily and I tied the headband onto head, smiling as I finished, earning a pat on the head. "This is our last session. You leave tomorrow in order to reach the leaf village in three days". My smile slowly vanished upon hearing the news. "Won't you drop me to the village sensei?". "I cannot. One of my spies will escort you". My head lowered. "Though" he continued which moved my head into an upright position once more, revealing a smiling Sasori. "I must admit; I've grown attached to you in just that short length of time. You remind me of my younger self, except you're a bit happier than I was.". "You'll see me again sensei" I reassured. "I know, but by then you'll be all grown up and may have become a completely different person". I held out my pinky which was immediately grasped by his. "I promise, as your student, I will return the same in my mind-set". "You should get some sleep, you leave in the morn and you have far to go". I unhooked my finger, bowed and ran straight to the bedroom. Laying on the bed, I fell asleep shorty after.


	4. Chapter 4

As said, I arrived at the village on the third day of our journey. Sasori's spy, Ebisu, left me to travel alone halfway through, as he could not be seen by leaf ninja. Instantly, approached two ninjas. Before they could ask any questions I stated my name. They recognized me as the transfer student and one escorted me to the academy. There I was introduced to the class by my teacher, Iruka sensei; all eyes were immediately drawn to me as I walked to my assigned seat next to the grouchy black haired boy called 'Sasuke'. As if planned, I was bombarded with questions as soon as I had settled. _'I enjoyed the silence while it lasted'_ "Why does your name so weird?" "Is Marionette a common name in the sand village?" "What's the sand village like?" "How come you transferred to our school?" were just of the few I was able to recognize from the babbles. In an attempt to keep the noise out, I clutched my ears, placing my head on the desk. Suddenly, all the babbling faded and I was nudged by someone. I uncovered my ears but my head remained situated. "You can stop acting like a baby. Look, they've gone back to minding their business" the grouch spoke. "I didn't ask for you to butt in. I came prepared". He scoffed, "Came prepared to ignore? How's that working out for you?". "Marionette, it's okay. You can raise your head, I'm about the begin classes" Iruka sensei called; and I obeyed, still ignoring Sasuke's question. "Psst! Psst- Sasuke move your head, it's in the way!" a voice called from behind. Looking back, I saw a blonde haired kid with whiskers on his cheeks and the held the most obnoxious grin. "Hi there! My name's Naruto Uzumaki" he held his hand out. I was in the process of reaching for it when a firm hand took hold of my wrist. "I wouldn't do that if I were you. He's _really_ loud and annoying" it was none other than Sasuke. Despite his warning I went ahead, using my left hand-which was free- to grasp Naruto's. "I'm Marionette Chi-" "Not a full three minutes has passed, and you're already distracting , Naruto!" a very angry Iruka sensei yelled. "Iruka-sensei, I was just introducing myself!" Naruto defensively replied. "That's why there's break! Now this time, pay attention" and with that Iruka sensei continued his teaching.

At long last, it was time for break. I felt as if I had been sitting for hours when really class was only forty-five minutes long. Naruto couldn't wait to approach me. Though, he wasn't alone. With him were five boys and two girls, including the one who sat alongside him. Also, there was Sasuke, who stuck around for no reason whatsoever; he clearly disliked Naruto and I think the feeling was mutual with Naruto. "Alright! I've gathered everyone. Time to introduce yourselves!". "Couldn't you just have done it for us Naruto?" the boy with the bored expression and spikey hair spoke. "Where's the fun in that?!". The boy sighed, "This is such a drag… I'm Shikamaru Nara". I nodded, taking his name into remembrance. Another boy, this time with a fur jacket, with a white puppy in it and what looked to be fangs stepped forward. "The name's Kiba Inuzuka" he grinned, revealing his pointed teeth, "And this here's Akamaru" pointing to the dog. "Aww!" I cooed, unable to resist as he barked. Stepping to his side, came another male, fatter in comparison to the two who came before, holding a bag of potato chips which he faced in my direction. "I'm Choji Akimichi…want some?". I took a potato chip from the bag as I thanked him. The next male who stepped forward, held a composed look and long hair with light purple orbs for eyes. "I'm Neji Hyuga. It's a pleasure to meet you". "P-pleasures all mine" taken back from his politeness I stuttered. The last boy to introduce himself was one that wore sunglasses indoors and had half his face-from nose down- covered. "Shino Aburame" his words were soft, but thankfully I heard. He didn't look like much of a talker. "I. love. Your. Hair! I'm Ino Yamanaka" the blonde one introduced. "And that's Hinata Hyuga. She's shy. Well I think you've met everyone" Naruto said. I looked to the girl with the purple hair, she was the furthest away, I gave her a friendly smile and turned my attention back to Naruto who was now arguing with the pink haired girl. "S-seems I forgot someone. T-this is Sakura". "It's nice to meet you" she said giving the warmest smile. "Are you guys finally done? I don't want to spend my break indoors you know" Sasuke interrupted, just as I was about to reply. "You could've just left" Naruto mumbled, and suddenly that was the start of an annoying argument between the two, plus one- Sakura joined in. To put a stop to it, I grabbed both Naruto and Sasuke's wrist and pulled them towards the door. "If you kept arguing, we would've spent break indoors". We were followed by the others. And before I knew it, all ten them became the closest friends I've had, since Marianna.


End file.
